Ore-mixing pocket



Jan. 30, 1923. 1,443,843

J. H. HEARDING.

ORE MIXING PQcKET.

FILED Nov. 17, 1920. 2 SHEETS'SHEET 1 Jan. 30, 1923. 1,443,843

J. H. HEARDING. ORE MIXING PocKET. FILED Novv ?7. 1920. 2 SHEETS'SHEET 2Patented Jan. 38, 1923.

UNHTE sir JOHN H. HEARDING, OF DULUTH, MINNESOTA. I

ORE-MIXING POCKET.

Application filed November 17, 1920. Serial No. 424,753.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. HEARDING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Duluth, in the county of St. Louis and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Mixing Pockets,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and improved method and means forsecuring uniform mixtures of loose materials or more specifically forsecuring a uniform grade or quality of ore by means of a mixing processwhereby several car loads of ore are thoroughly intermingled to provide,for use in the furnaces, a mixture having a constant analysis althoughthe several cars contain ores of differing analyses.

The invention is of particular application in connection with thehandling of iron ores and will be described in connection with such use.It is obviously, however, of broad application where similar results aredesired in the handling of other materials.

In the operation of blast furnaces for the production of pig iron it ishighly desirable that the ore fed to the furnace be of a uniform grade,that is, that the chemical analysis of the ore be constant. This isdesir able not only in order to secure a uniform product, but tofacilitate a uniform working of the blast furnaces.

In practice it is customary to take samples from a certain number of thecars in which the ore is shipped, the combined analyses representing thecontent of the ore as a whole. As the cars are received, the ore isdumped from the cars into pockets or bins and withdnwn from the bins inother cars for use in the furnaces. In these various operations ofhandling the ore in transit from mine to furnace, a certain amount ofmixing occurs. This mixing is. howwer, not sufficient to cause asthorough an intermixture as is desirable and the ore to the furnace doesnot run as uniformly in content as is preferred.

In the normal dumping of ores from cars into storage bins there is acertain amount of intermixture, but there is, nevertheless, a more orless pronounced stratification in the bin caused by the successivedumpings of the various cars. There is some mixing action as the ore isdrawn from the bin but not sufficient in amount to accomplish thedesired uniformity.

If the first bin or pocket is caused to discharge into a second bin,there is still a certain amount of stratification in the second bin,although it is less pronounced than in the original bin. caused astheore is drawn from the second bin into the cars and the mixturedelivered to the furnaces is much more'uniform in content than is thecase where a single bin is used. I

A still further improvement in the mixing is, however, very desirable.()bviously any means tending to reduce stratification in either or bothbins will have the result of producing a more uniform ore as deliveredfinally to the furnaces.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a newmeans wherebyores or materials of like character may be intermingled and mixed tosecure a uniform content. It is a further object to accomplish thedesired result without the necessity of any addi- An additional mixingis tional handling of the material other than 1 that normally required.It isalso an object to provide means of the character described whichare simple in construction, positive in operation, and relativelyinexpensive of installation. Other and further objects will appear asthe description proceeds.

I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in theaccompanying draw- I ings, in.which Figure 1 is a side elevation, partlybroken away, showing a storage bin structure equipped with my invention;and,

Figure 2 is a cross elevation of the structure of Fig. 1.

The ore or similar material is received from cars 3, run in uponeither-of the elevated tracks 4. or 5. The receivingbin 6 is locatedbelow these tracks. Below the tracks and adjacent the top of the bin arelocated the deflecting vanes or wings 7 meeting in a line at the top anddiverging therefrom in such manneras to throw the material against thesides of the bin. The chute- 8 is provided at the lowest point of thereceiving bin and it leads into a second or delivery bin 9. The bin 9 isalso provided with deflector wings 10 adjacent the chute 8. The deliverychute 11 leads from the lower end of the bin 9 and is adapted to delivermaterial to cars 12 upon lower track 13.

In the use of this bin construction. material is preferably alternatelydumped from tracks 4 and 5 into the bin 6, the alternate dumping" fromthe different tracks supplying material at (littering points and aidingin its distribution and intermixture. The deflector wings T tend tothrow the material against tie lateral walls of the bin and are materialaids in thus distributing the contents of a car thoroughly over the binarea. The several cars will, however, provide (littering layers 0ftmaterial more or less uniformly distributed over the lower part of thebin, the dumping from di 'erent tracks and the use of the detlecti vanesQGI lHQ to aid in dist-ributiuq the material.

When the upper bin -55 h s been tilled to the desired point or has rezl1 th contents of the cars containing; a (idiillfit: lot of n'iaterialthe gates to the chute t. he opened and a stream of ore will out ot" thechute 8 against the deflector 10 and will be thrown against the side.walls of the bin 9.

In the flow through the chute 8 and over the deflectors l0 and thedistribution in the bin 9 the strata of the bin 6 are thoroughlydisrupted and the ore in the second or delivery bin will besubstantially a uniform mixture. The material undergoes a CCl'llaiIlamount of mixing due to the movement in bin 6 incident to its flowthrough the chute 8 and asimilar movement and mixing occurs as thematerial is drawn off from the bin 9 by the chute it into cars for transportation to the blast furnaces. Any indi vidual car 12 will receive :1subs antially uniformly mixed lot of material, the resultant of thevarious grades of material dumped into the upper bin. and successivecars 12 will receive the same mate "ial until the contents of the binare exhausted.

An important feature of my invention lies in the fact that it involvesno rehaudling of the material other than that incident to its normalmovement. The bins (3 and 9 take the place 01": the usual stora 'e. binswhere the ore is stored upon arrival from 4' v .1 4 i the mine untilneened 1.01 the luinaces. the flow over vanes T and 8 and through chute8 is all accomplished by gravity and the only additional labor requiredis the opening and closing of chutes S at the proper time. The structureitself issimple and its use involves no excess labor or power cost,while it results in a much more uniform mixing of the ore withconsequent advantages infsm citing.

While have d ".SCl'lljQil more or less prw cisely the details ofconstruction of my iii-- vention. i do not wish to be uiulcrstnod aslimiting; myself thereto. as l coiiteinplate changes in form and theproportim'i of parts and substitution of equivalents as circumstancesmay su est or render e:-;peclient. without dcpar ing from the spirit o'tmy invention.

I claim:

An ore storage and mining; structure adapted to intermix ore storedtherein duringthe passage of said ore throu 'h the structure under theinfluence of gravity. said structure com nising an upper receih ing bin,a plurality of receiving tracks passing above spaced portions of saidbin. deflector vanes placed in the upper portions of. said bin below thetracks, a lower discharge bin a restricted chute connecting the upperand lower bins, deflector vanes located in the lower bin below saidchute, and a restricted discharge chute at the lower portion of thelower chute. the deflectors and restricted chutes serving to alternatclvdistribute d intermix the ore. I

Signed at Duluth, Minnesota, this 12 day of November, 1920. U

JOHN H. REGARDING:

